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Space Channel 5
Space Channel 5 was released on December 16, 1999 in Japan, June 6, 2000 in North America, and October 8, 2000 in Europe. The game was given a budget DriKore release in Japan on December 21, 2000 in simpler packaging. In 2002, Space Channel 5 was ported to the PlayStation 2. It was released in Europe on March 15, 2002 and in Japan on December 12, 2002. It was released in North America on November 18, 2003 as part of a sole package called Space Channel 5 Special Edition. Plot Set 500 years in the future where space travel is now the norm, it’s apparently still difficult to maintain ratings for a television station. Channel 5, after years of broadcasting, has plummeted in the ratings, and if something isn’t done soon it will be permanently canceled. Enter Ulala, station director Fuse’s last hope of reviving the nearly dead Channel 5. He sends her out as the final resort to report on the invasion of an alien race called the Morolians. Report 1: Introducing...Ulala! Ulala arrives on scene at Spaceport 9, the first area the Morolians invade, where chaos has broken out. She struts and dances her way through the main lobby, then the Flight Control Tower where the Space Rescue Police's mission to save the workers of teh spaceport has gone awry. Things seem to be going well until the rival reporter of Channel 42, Pudding, strides in front of Channel 5's camera. She and Ulala quickly have a dance-off to see who is better. Ulala proves to be a formidable opponent, making Pudding and her Henchmen to retreat. With that taken care if, Ulala and the people she rescued head off for the Launch Pad. There, the hypnotized robot Coco Tapioca confronts them ni a dancing duel. It isn't long before the mecha is defeated and Ulala's report show wraps up successfully. Report 2: Spaceship S.O.S.! Onboard the Luxury Spacecraft G is where Ulala finds herself next doing her Swingin' Report Show. She heads from the cockpit to teh dining hall with the crew of teh vessel right behind her. It's after she saves the Space Diva that a shadow looms over her and her posse. It's the Rogueship-A-Go-Go and the Space Pirates! Some technical difficulties are brought to the broadcast of the report show, and when the static clears the camera focuses on the infamous Space Pirate Jaguar. He challanges Ulala to a dance-off, though the pink-haired woman proves she can get down. she perks Jaguar's interest before he zooms away with his jetpack. Report 3: Catch the Scoop! Somehow it happened, but no questions it: the secret bas of the Morolians has been discovered within the Asteroid Belt. Report 4: Evil the Galaxy Revealed! Ulala, Pudding, and Jaguar strut into Channel 5 Headquarters to find the source of the mastermind at work behind the invasion. It turns out to be none other than Channel 5 CEO Chief Blank. Characters *'Ulala' Space Channel 5's last minute reporter to help bring up the ratings. She carries with her trusty microphone and two guns. The Chu Beam is used for shooting aliens, robots and other attackers while the Rescue Beam is used to rescue hostages being forced to dance. When ratings are high, she emits a pink aura, signifying she is full of groove energy. In Space Channel 5 Fuse fully backs her up as Channel 5's last resort to stay on the air. *'Fuse' The broadcaster of Space Channel 5. He remains in the broadcasting ship all the time, and his face is never seen. He relays instructions to Ulala to help her through her missions, although he often gets fascinated by Ulala's moves. When Channel 5 is on the brink of being canceled for good, he supports Ulala when she winds up being the only reporter left who could possibly save the station. *'Space Michael' Space Michael, based on Michael Jackson, appears as a cameo in Report 4. He later becomes a fully involved character in Part 2. *'Pudding' A reporter from Channel 42, who usually shows up early on in the games. With her bodyguards, groupies and her catchphrase "It's me, Pudding!" ("Pudding desu!" in the Japanese version), she challenges Ulala but usually finds herself beaten. *'Jaguar' A reporter from a Pirate broadcasting station dedicated to giving viewers the truth. In the first game, he tends to act snubby against Ulala's affiliation with Space Channel 5. He was a former member of Space Channel 5, and was indeed the reporter who saved Ulala's life years ago, but he sensed corruption from the station's head chief, Blank. He does, however, rescue Ulala once again from Blank, and uses his back up group to get Ulala back in the groove. *'Hoorg' Leader of the Morolians. He decides which plans should be used in the ongoing invasion of the earth people. Doesn't realize that the Morolians were brainwashed by Blank into attacking people and forcing them to dance. He is one of the last Morolians Ulala has to face before confronting Blank. *'Chief Blank' The head Chief of Space Channel 5 in the first game, Blank became corrupt and brainwashed the Morolians to stage an alien invasion, so that he would get many ratings. He despises reporters who 'spread truth like disease' and even creates a robot clone of Ulala called Evila to replace her. He is soon defeated using the dance energy of the crowd and sent flying into space. Extra Mode Once the game has been completed and the credits roll, the player has the option of saving and playing through a more difficult version of the game, although it is most noticeable in Reports 1 and 2. The timings are stricter and the dance turns tend to be longer. Gameplay The game is basically a "listen and repeat" game; players are given a rhthym containing multiple gestures and must repeat them back exactly as heard. The dance commands merely use the existing movement buttons. The "up" button corresponds to the aliens raising both paws or Ulala raising both hands. For "down", Ulala lowers only her right hand. Her left hand contains a microphone. When either the "left" or "right" button is pressed, she only moves her hand in the respective direction. Their legs move, and their torsos automatically bend. The "A" or "X" button is used for shooting at the Morolians or simply another dance move. The "B" or "O" button is used for rescuing hostages (In report 2, however, in the first phase of the boss, the "B" button is not used for shooting directly at the hostages). There also appears to be mispronunciation of "shoot" when the player presses either the "A" or "B" button. In the manual, it says "shoot", but the Morolians say words that are quite similar to "kiss", "chin". Ulala, Pudding, Jaguar and Evila say "chu', while Fuse says "shoot" or "chu". In Part 2, the B Button attack is now called "hey" and is also used outside of rescuing hostages. In between these scenes, Ulala appears to be taunting the opponent (if the player gets all the moves correct) or have messed up the dance (if the player gets incorrect moves or misses a move). The performance also extends to the music. If Ulala misses a certain number of moves the music changes to an off tone one and if she has a better performance, certain extras will be played (as for example a guitar solo in the first level). Ulala is given a certain number of hearts in case she misses a move or get an incorrect move. If she does so, she will lose a heart. If she loses all the given number of hearts, she will then hunch over and become upset, with Fuse shouting at her. In Part 2, some parts convert ratings to stars; the better the player has done, the more stars they'll receive. If all stars run out, the game is over. Music Playstation 2 versions Space Channel 5: Ulala's Cosmic Attack Space Channel 5: Ulala's Cosmic Attack was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003 by THQ as part of an agreement that gave THQ the exclusive rights to make Game Boy Advance games based on Sega franchises. It is a remake of the original Space Channel 5. Trivia Appearances in other games Ulala, along with other Space Channel 5 elements, have appeared in several other video games: *''Sonic Riders'' (PS2, Gamecube, PC)- Ulala as a playable character *''Sega Superstars'' (PS2)- Minigame based on Space Channel 5 *''Sega Superstars Tennis'' (PS2, PS3, Wii, DS, Xbox 360)- Ulala and Pudding as playable characters *''Feel the Magic: XY/XX'' (DS)- Minigame based on Space Channel 5 *''Sega Splash Golf'' (PC)- Ulala as a caddy *''Beach Spikers'' (Gamecube)- Ulala as a playable character *''Samba de Amigo'' (Wii) - Ulala makes guest appearance, Mexican Flyer featured as songChris Greenhough, "GC 2008: Left! Right! Chu! Chu! Ulala in Samba," Wiifanboy (Aug 20th 2008). *''Rez'' (Dreamcast, PS2, XBLA)- Unlockable Morolian evolution *''Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA'' (PSP)- Unlockable Ulala outfit, Mexican Flyer featured as song *''Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary'' (DS, PSP, PS2, Wii)- Morolians feature as an alternate set of blocks, along with Space Channel 5 themed garbage indicators *''Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing'' (DS, Wii, PC, PS3, 360)- Ulala as a playable character Ulala has also made a cameo in the 2001 film Josie and the Pussycats, where she is popular in the merchandising in a store that Wyatt visits to try out a demo CD. Development In discussing the study of target demographics, Mizuguchi related the story of designing Space Channel 5, which was at first a vague assignment from Sega that asked only that Mizuguchi design a game with a broad enough appeal to draw in even casual female gamers. "This was the first I'd heard of casual female gamers", he said, "so I didn't really know what to do. I personally interviewed a lot of young girls, trying to find out what they like." Women, he says, tend to enjoy puzzle games, while male gamers "want to be on top, they want to accomplish something and be the champion." It's difficult, he insists, to create a game that appeals to both males and females on an equal level.Clifaldi, Frank (2005-05-20). "E3 Report: The Path to Creating AAA Games" Retrieved 2007-05-26. Mizuguchi has also stated that Space Channel 5 was inspired by the dance troupe Stomp ''. He highly enjoyed the performance, and began thinking why musicals were so much fun, but more importantly "How can we get this feeling into an interactive process?". It was then that Space Channel 5 was born. Michael Jackson makes a cameo appearance as Space Michael in ''Space Channel 5,Michael Donahue, "Forced Guests: Cameos that make us scream 'Yessss!'" in Electronic Gaming Monthly 226 (March 2008): 34. near the end of the game. The May 2007 issue of EGM contains a quote from series creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi concerning what it was like to work with Michael: :"We were in the middle of production of Space Channel 5, in 1998 or 1999. I got a call from the U.S. from my partner - the executive producer of Space Channel 5 - and he said, 'Oh, Michael wants to act in Space Channel 5.' I said, 'Who's Michael?' 'Who is Michael Jackson?' he said, 'The Michael Jackson - the real Michael Jackson' :My partner had shown him the 60-to-70 percent complete version, when it was almost at the end of the game. We had one month to finalize. But Michael wanted to do something, so we suggested that if he was OK with it, we could program the people in the game to do the Michael Jackson dance when taken over by aliens. he said 'yeah.' We initially had five aliens who danced. One of them became Michael Jackson." He had a more prominent role in Space Channel 5 Part 2 where he became the new head of Space Channel 5. Whilst Ulala is distracted by a fake scoop, the headquarters are attacked and Space Michael is kidnapped by Purge and the Rhythm Rogues and has to be rescued by Ulala in a level featuring several of Michael's trademark dance moves. He then joins Ulala in facing up against Purge. In both versions of the game, Michael speaks in English, which is subtitled into Japanese in the Japanese version. Lawsuit In early 2003, Lady Miss Kier, formerly of the band Deee-Lite, initiated a lawsuit against Sega corporation for allegedly stealing her former persona and using it as the basis of a video game character. The lawsuit was based on accusations of copying her look of knee-high boots, short skirts and a pink ponytail, for Sega's Ulala character design.Lady Kier VS Sega. ladykier.com. Retrieved 2006-12-11. Lady Miss Kier (real name is Kierin Kirby) claimed that Sega offered to pay her $16,000 to license her name, image and songs for the game, though she rejected their offer. Kirby later learned that the videogame maker went ahead and used her resemblance anyway, and she decided to initiate the lawsuit. She ultimately lost the suit and a later appeal and was liable to pay Sega's legal fees of $608,000 (reduced from $763,000 requested)."Lady Miss Kier" Hammered With Opponent's Attorney's Fees". legalreader.com. Retrieved 2006-12-11. References External links * [http://www.mobygames.com/game/space-channel-5 Space Channel 5 at MobyGames] Category:Space Channel 5 series